Why Team Fortress 2 Fans Need To Play The Overwatch Open Beta

Since I was first introduced to Team Fortress 2 back in college, it was a game I clung to as a means of escape, something I played in my downtime to destress or get together with friends. There was this level of community in Team Fortress 2 that I enjoyed, and it helped that sometimes I topped the leaderboards (a huge ego boost). But when I played the Overwatch Beta on Friday, I was immediately taken back to a time I thought I had lost.

If you aren’t familiar with Team Fortress 2, it surprisingly works a lot like Overwatch. One team faces against another team in different game modes and on a number of different maps. While Team Fortress 2 had less of a selection of characters to choose from, they still all had the stereotypical classes like the tank, healer, sniper etc. So of course while I was playing Overwatch, I immediately began pointing out the classes that were similar to Team Fortress 2.

The type of game mode I enjoyed the most was Payload, and that kind of gameplay is offered in both Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch. In Payload, one team must “push” an automatically-moving cart through the map to the finish line, and the cart moves when a teammate stands behind it. The other team has to stop them or slow them down before time runs out. I have found it useful in both Overwatch and Team Fortress 2 to use a tank hero in this game mode because the tank will withstand the smaller attacks and keep the cart going. Plus, you get a ton of points for doing so. But it’s important your team picks at least a medic and a tank, which I think are the backbones of the team. Without them, you won't get far.

Because I’m not the sniping type, I prefer to go into a mission guns blazing. That’s just my gameplay style. And the hero I found the easiest to use with this style on Overwatch was Pharah. She really reminded me of the soldier in Team Fortress 2 because she shoots a rocket launcher and I became very good at nailing enemies with a direct hit. Funny thing is, the first time I ever played Team Fortress 2, I quickly took a liking to the Soldier. On the other hand, the soldier in Team Fortress 2 requires a little more skill to get direct hits.

If you’re looking for someone more precise, then Widowmaker is the hero you’ll want to check out in Overwatch. She’s a sniper, but I’m going to warn you. It’s a little more difficult to snipe in this game than in Team Fortress 2. I had such a hard time, but maybe that’s just me. Or maybe it’s because no one really stands still in Overwatch. I just really felt the learning curve there.

While Overwatch is almost a stronger and better version of Team Fortress 2, I’m not sure it will ever replace the game for me. There’s a certain kind of nostalgia tacked on to the game that I can’t shake. And it almost, almost maddens me that it seems Overwatch tried to tackle and grow on the Team Fortress 2 gameplay. But I can’t be mad, because I enjoy this kind of game way too much. So if you were or are a diehard fan of Team Fortress 2, you need to give Overwatch a try. I guarantee it will give you all the feels. But you need to hurry, because the open beta ends on Monday.